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Everett Chief pleas guilty to manslaughter in womens’ deaths

Sarah MacIntosh and Wendy Carlick were found dead in MacIntosh’s home in April 2017
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Courthouse in Whitehorse. (Yukon News file)

Everett Chief, who was charged with murder in the deaths of two women in Whitehorse in early 2017, pleaded guilty to the lesser charge or manslaughter for both deaths on March 25.

Chief, a 48-year-old man originally from Watson Lake, was initially charged with first degree murder for Wendy Carlick’s death and second degree murder for Sarah MacIntosh’s in 2018. The two women were found dead in MacIntosh’s home in April of 2017.

The admissions of fact filed alongside Chief’s guilty plea detail the numerous and severe injuries that MacIntosh and Carlick suffered prior to their deaths as well as the evidence that was used to tie Chief to the crime.

“Mr. Chief admits before this court that he unlawfully killed both Sarah MacIntosh and Wendy Carlick while he was grossly intoxicated by alcohol and that he is criminally responsible for their deaths,” the admissions read.

It states that Chief and MacIntosh had been in an on-and-off romantic relationship that had a history of violence. At the time of the alleged killings Chief was bound by a probation order that prohibited from having contact with MacIntosh.

Surveillance footage from April 10, 2017 shows Chief and MacIntosh together taking a taxi from her neighbourhood to downtown Whitehorse. The admissions state that Chief and MacIntosh met Carlick downtown and returned to MacIntosh’s home, also in a taxi, to socialize and drink together.

The admissions state there is no material or eyewitness evidence to suggest that anyone else was in MacIntosh’s home at the time of the homicides.

It details how Chief was arrested in early May 2017 following an altercation with another man. A pair of his shoes were taken and the inside of one of them had small red flakes that police believed were dried blood. The blood was tested and found to be a DNA match with Carlick.

After he was rearrested and charged with the homicides, Chief was placed in a holding cell with an undercover RCMP officer and also thoroughly questioned by police. During the interview he said he argued with MacIntosh about their relationship while drinking at her house. He said he was blacked out after drinking for two days during the killings and later woke up, saw the bodies and left. It states that he tearfully recounted his confession to the undercover officer in his cell afterwards.

There were pretrial inquiries into whether Chief was psychologically fit to stand trial. The matter proceeded to a jury trial in October of 2021 where he was found fit.

The Crown is seeking a long-term offender designation for Chief that could subject him to lengthier supervision by Corrections Canada after his sentence is served. Chief will be back in court in April to set a date for sentencing.

Contact Jim Elliot at jim.elliot@yukon-news.com



Jim Elliot

About the Author: Jim Elliot

I’m a B.C. transplant here in Whitehorse at The News telling stories about the Yukon's people, environment, and culture.
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